Emergency Response Takes Grit and Heart
Student Emergency Services in the Office of the Dean of Students team
Note: The Division of Student Affairs went above and beyond to support students during the recent winter storm and the university’s multi-day closure. It would take a novel to share all of the heroic and selfless stories of our dedicated staff, friends and supporters. This story is just one that illustrates their endurance and devotion.
By Sara Kennedy
There is no way to choose just one star in the constellation of grit and heart that makes up Student Emergency Services in the Office of the Dean of Students, for their unwavering service to students during the winter storms last week.
During the storms, Student Emergency Services partnered with University Housing and Dining to provide temporary emergency housing to 128 students in university properties, more students than Student Emergency Services has ever housed this way, outside of shelter operations. They connected with 529 students to provide support, processed $16,250 in Student Emergency Fund food support, and distributed 83 food totes from UT Outpost, just in that one week.
“The team first and foremost put the students’ needs before their own. While they were personally dealing with a lot, they still showed up and made it happen for our students,” said Kelly Soucy, Student Emergency Services director.
- Assistant Director Ashley Jones lost power Sunday night and needed to move her family into her mother-in-law’s when their house was too cold for their two small children after two nights of no power. Once moved, Jones immediately got to work, putting in a full week’s work in just four days to make sure students got support.
- Case Managers Amy Costa and Thomas Schlitt jumped to help and put in extra hours to get emergency funds to students throughout the week and to respond to students when they were the only teammates who didn’t lose power.
UT Outpost food totes
- UT Outpost Coordinator Will Ross had no power nor safe transportation to campus, “but somehow connected with Micah 6 while they were also closed, and made it possible for them to provide food on Wednesday for free dinner for students at the warming center in the Texas Union, as well as organize an emergency UT Outpost food pantry distribution for Thursday,” according to Soucy. Ross also worked over the weekend to reschedule a delayed food delivery and secure a second delivery to support students after the storms.
- Case Manager Michael Crosa relocated to the Student Services Building to be able to support students when the temperature at his home became dangerously low. While onsite, Crosa supported UT Outpost by coordinating the preparation of 83 food totes with Ross, and worked the contactless distribution of those totes to students.
- Senior Administrative Assistants Carley Gardiner and Emily Rapp both relocated to the Student Services Building due to dangerous cold during the power outages at their homes. They both answered phone calls and emails, expediting the connections to support for students in need during the ongoing disaster. Rapp also helped prepare the 83 food totes for UT Outpost. All while basically living in the office, because it wasn’t safe at home.
- The COVID-19 Response Team, COVID-19 Coordinator Chris Hillman, COVID-19 Case Managers Zach Markizer and Aaron Pitman, and COVID-19 Advice Line Administrative Assistants Alex Cruz and Jessica Valdez worked around power and connectivity issues to provide continuous support to students in need due to COVID-19 exposure, including students housed at the City of Austin Isolation Facilities, where the storms caused broken pipes, along with power and water outages.
- Legal Services for Students Attorney Martin Serra lost power off and on throughout the week; however, he remained available to support students who needed help with landlord issues after the storm. Martin’s days are packed, helping students end their lease due to untenable circumstances and providing them with the skills to advocate for themselves.
- Case Manager Allie Ambriz and Outreach and Prevention Coordinator Justin Carter lost power, water and heat for the entire week of storms. Even after their own ordeals, they both showed up as soon as they could to help students get support and emergency funds following the storms.
These staff were led and supported by the indomitable Soucy. She has both the detailed focus to consider and address the needs of her staff managing student support while clearly seeing the big picture of issues affecting students and shifting resources to mitigate impact. Her family lost power early in the storms, but she never stopped working, checking in on her staff, or supporting students. She physically came to campus as often as she could to support staff and even to distribute food totes from UT Outpost.
This is a team of the highest level, made of the strongest stuff. Grit and heart.
Check out these additional heartwarming stories related to the historic winter storms: find out how the Division quickly initiated on-campus warming centers and bottled water distribution sites; provided round-the-clock service to on-campus residents; pivoted operations for services, including Proactive Community Testing and COVID-19 vaccine operations; and launched the Texas Tough fundraising campaign with UT Austin and Texas A&M student government.
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